If I look at it at the highest magnification the browser allows, I see individual particles. Some of it looks like drying marks with dried up components and some of it look like those dried up particles were dragged across the film. You say your location is a university. Can you take your film to a biology lab and look at it under 40x to 100x magnifications to see what those "streaks" actually are? If you have use a stereo microscope and illuminate it from above and/or through the film, you can probably tell exactly what happened.

Once, I got something like that with my processing after few years of successful processing. What ended up happening was that what I thought was a diluted Photoflo wasn't.... So... don't forget to re-examine your process carefully.

I squeegee film my fingers as I always do for 120. I don't do it with 35mm because I've had issues with water spots. But up until now I have never had these issues with 120. Squeegee streaks as I have seen them are on the base of the film and can be wiped off. These see to be in the emulsion. Agitation seems likely but I used the same agitation as always. I do rap the tank on the counter and use the recommended amount of developer.

I should mention that I recenlty swithched from Photo-Flo to the Edwal wetting agent. Photo-Flo sposts my 35mm film no matter what I do to it.

Kris,

Does the Edwal wetting agent instructions recommend to use your fingers to squeegee the film?

I recommend shooting a roll at a time at home, and do the whole process exactly to the manufacturer's instructions, (except dev time of course, which is individual), including the wetting agent.

I use Sprint wetting agent, and it actually recommends the use of a sponge to remove excess wetting agent, so it's designed to be used that way. In my darkroom there is also a bottle of Ilford wetting agent, and it recommends to just hang the film up after use.

Do not process any more of your film from the trip until you have this problem under control.

Lycka till.

- Thomas

"Often moments come looking for us". - Robert Frank

"Make good art!" - Neil Gaiman

"...the heart and mind are the true lens of the camera". - Yousuf Karsh

Looks very much like scratches to me, so don't do any kind of squeege technique. Just hang to dry without wiping film. Also check reels closely for any firmly dried-on particles, scrub them off, then wash/dry reels thoroughly after each use. I've always used Photo-Flo at the recommended 1:200 without issues; however, many here suggest greater dilution. Always dilute using either filtered water or distilled water (preferable) in case your tap water has junk in it. Since the marks seem to be in the same place on different films, I would really suspect that one particular reel or the squeegee is doing the scratching.

How could a reel cause parallel scratches spanning the width of the roll, running the length of every frame on the entire roll of film? No film reel out there makes that kind of contact with the film. The only processing equipment that would make that kind of marking is a roller transport machine, and he's developing his film in a Paterson tank. It's got to be squeegeeing technique. If it were the tank or the reel, it would either be confined to the edges, or appear on the outermost frames of the roll where they could make contact with the inside of the tank. Any other problems caused by dirty reels would appear as cloudy spots or random scratches caused when particulate breaks off and swirls around in the tank during agitation.

How could a reel cause parallel scratches spanning the width of the roll, running the length of every frame on the entire roll of film? No film reel out there makes that kind of contact with the film. The only processing equipment that would make that kind of marking is a roller transport machine, and he's developing his film in a Paterson tank. It's got to be squeegeeing technique. If it were the tank or the reel, it would either be confined to the edges, or appear on the outermost frames of the roll where they could make contact with the inside of the tank. Any other problems caused by dirty reels would appear as cloudy spots or random scratches caused when particulate breaks off and swirls around in the tank during agitation.

There are multiple issues going on with this film, Scott. People are looking at the negatives and addressing more than just the scratches.

I agree with shawn, multi issues!! I think the scratches are caused by a burr or burrs of some sort. could be in the camera, could be harden skin protrusion?, that is knicked so as to cause a burr like score when using your fingers to squegee. more than likely, your film back has a "dust type" issue where the particle is trapped at the bar or film gate and protruding and marking your film as you advancing. When loading film either inside or outside there is always a chance of a particle "coming in" off your shirt or blowing in, and landing in exactly the wrong place. AS a foot note , my bulk loading had this issue, I had to buy a new bulk loader and that issue went away, immediately< sometimes you can not feel it, but its there. and marks your film as you advance. Also do not "pull" your negative thrue your sandwiched negative carrier, that will also cause these scratches, the burr of the metal negative carrier will score/mark your film, due to the "squeeze" preasure. hope you fix your problems dude!!

Shawn- I know there are multiple issues. Correct me if I'm wrong but the OP was specifically asking about the scratches, and said he was aware of the other issues and knew the cause for those. He may not have said such in just a single post.

Can we just confirm whether these marks consist of crud on the film, marks in the filmbase/emulsion, or even marks from the digitising method - whatever that is in this case. Is the film all commercial rolls? - probably yes for 120, but it needs to be asked.

Unless you are using one of the fast-dry alcohol rinse products (which went out of fashion about thirty years ago) there doesn't seem any advantage to a squeegee and there are quite a few disadvantages.

Distilled water, with a low concentration of wetting-agent, for final-rinse 'should' have totally clean water naturally falling off your film, leaving sparkling negs after a few hours drying. If there seem to be marks despite doing this, then I suppose look to the suggestions about damage from burrs or edges during shooting and processing - but the marks look more like crud or squeegee pressure-marks than regular mechanical scratches..

For removing the crud marks, if they are on the filmbase side try a breath on a cleaning pad, and experiment on a non-critical area first!

They are scratches in the emulsion. They are mostly not visible when looking at the film directly even on the light table. They are however visible when viewing the film at an angle with the emulsion side up. I am really starting to suspect the film back because upon further inspection the only film effected is Tri-X which all of the rolls ran through the same back. The FP4+ lacks the fine scratches when viewing the emulsion closely. Thanks for all of your advice on these issues. It was very enlightening and I would definitely stop squeegeeing my film and will be washing my reels a lot better.

Thanks

Kris

Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Arts: Journalism - University of Arkansas 2014